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District Human Rights Centers
It had been a long cherished dream of SICHREM to reach out to the rural areas. Driven by the inspiration and encouragement received from the various collaborating organizations in the last five years, SICHREM has launched the District Centers in October 2001. The districts identified were finalized considering the reach of the organization and also the availability of the local organization capable to host the center. SICHREM in association with the anchoring organizations will thrive to replicate the efforts of SICHREM in the districts listed below
- Forum Against Dowry - Tumkur
- CHREA - Mahila Jagruthi Vedike - Kolar
- Vikasa - Mandya
- Sadhana - Dharwad
- DHRC SICHREM - Chamarajnagar
Fact Finding Reports
Monitoring Of Human Rights through a carefully researched and documented process involving fact-finding teams followed by initiating redressal measures, especially with the help of quasi-judicial agencies such as the National Human Rights Commission. In this the media plays a crucial role to apply pressure on the authorities to take cognizance of the specific violation and also in informing the public of the importance of the rule of law.
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Mobile Legal Clinic
TAKING HUMAN RIGHTS TO THE DOORSTEP OF THE PEOPLE
We are part of a system that scares away people from judicial processes due to the time taken to get justice and the scare of the advocates. The poor are at the receiving end of the increasing costs in approaching the courts. This is done through the age-old practice of organizing legal aid clinics in the
slums. SICHREM in collaboration with interested organisations organizing such a camp in their area. The clinic will be done for four hours on a particular date at a specified place where people can come and meet an advocate or a panel of advocates as the case may be. SICHREM sends a team of three advocates
to the particular camp and they will be available for four hours at a stretch. Every clinic attracts about 15 cases. The Mobile Clinics have been carried out with the help of voluntary organisations, which are working in the field level. The information about the clinics was passed on to the local community using bit notices and direct information from the field staff of the organisation. A team of three advocates, two of them women, spent 5 hours in the community from 3 pm to 8 p.m. The case details are documented to facilitate follow up action. The lawyers handle cases individually and consult each other in case the need arises. The cases are followed up from SICHREM with the help of the advocate who helps us.
Human Rights Helpline (HRH)
HUMAN RIGHTS RESTORATION
MAKING RIGHTS RESTORATION A TELEPHONE CALL AWAY
SICHREM explored the ways of making our intervention reach the most needy and the best way is to reach them is at their home. With this objective the help line was started in the month of 24th November 2000. The help line initially operated for two and a half-hours in a week- 3pm to 5.30 pm on every Friday. The response from the media, by carrying the item on all the days in its engagement column, literally forced us to carry out the counseling on a daily basis.
We received on an average of 15 – 20 calls per day and have been able to make positive interventions on several cases. The help line currently functions on all weekdays. The lead newspapers are giving the details of the counseling programme in the engagement columns. The paper also gives the telephone number. After listening to the grievances of the people the lawyer advises them of the measures to be taken to get legal remedy. In some cases the need arises
for closer study of the case and the documents and in those cases the people with the problems is called into the office and the lawyer along with other counselors in the team hold discussions and studies the case in detail.
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Documentation
The available documents are classified and segregated for easy accessibility. The documentation function strengthened the fact-finding process through research and information support. The documentation centre is also responsible for scanning the various media and informing the fact-finding team of the case of the cases of human rights violations reported in the media. The documentation is done at two levels. The first level is the scanning of the media and documenting cases of human rights violations in the state. The second is the generation of our own documents on the status of human rights in the state. The report generated by us therefore used in the advocacy efforts. The documentation centre provided the media needed information on current issues and maintains a close contact with the media. The documentation centre has
worked with ‘NBC’ an American news channel on a story on child labour in the silk industry. This collaboration has helped us in getting deeper insight into the child labour in the industry and the information has been in our advocacy efforts.
Social Action and Advocacy
Campaigns
- Against Death Penalty
- Campaign for the setting up of State Human Rights Commission and District level Human Rights Courts – continues from 1999.
- Campaigns against POTO and Karnataka Organised Crime Bill
- The Campaign Against Child Labour
- Campaign for the implementation of the National Police Commission Report
- Campaign for banning Domestic Child Labour.
- Campaign for the Right to Food.
- Campaign against Flexi Schools.
- Campaign for communal harmony at Baba Budangiri
Advocacy Reports
Advocacy efforts were centered on the promotion and protection of child rights in addition to the activities initiated against the violation of human rights in the state such as:
- Domestic Child Labour
- Campaign for the rights of victims of Special Task Force (STF) atrocities
- State Plan of Action to Eliminate Child Labour
- Advocacy For Human Rights Defenders
- The Campaign Against Flexi Schools
Training and Education
1. Human Rights Education:
The biggest strength of SICHREM is its expertise and experience in conducting human rights education programmes. SICHREM has designed a curriculum for Human Rights Education for College students. This curriculum has been developed as textbook also and the process of publishing the same is on.
During the last eight years we have succeeded in imparting HRE for more than two thousand college students spread around 15 colleges in Bangalore. The organisation is known for its HRE expertise and we receive frequent request from colleges for conducting programme.
Banking on the experience gained in HRE, SICHREM has started organising Trainers Training for College and University teachers in Human Rights Education. The first batch for the Bangalore University was organised in August 2003 and training for five other Universities in Karnataka will be organised by August 2004.
2. Human Rights Training:
The expert area of SICHREM is its training skills in Human Rights. We had succeeded in organising on an average ten training workshops a year. Each programme is designed for the specific participant groups such as women, dalits activists, child rights activists, NGOs in general, teachers, lawyers, media professionals etc,.
It gives a sense of achievement to note that more than 2,400 people have gone through SICHREM’s training workshop during the last eight years.
One regular training programme organised every year is a workshop for law students and young lawyers, as Karnataka does not have many lawyers oriented to human rights. These programme have helped in motivating many layers to be committed to human rights.
Over and above gaining skills and information, the trainees have also become contacts for SICHREM and thereby a large network is emerging all over the state.
A specific achievement is the organising of three workshops for women of minority communities especially Muslims. The focus of the programme was minority rights. This has provided an opportunity for us to network with certain Muslim organisations, which facilitates our advocacy efforts for communal harmony and secularism.
- An orientation course for university teachers on Human Rights Education
- A South India level training programme on Fact-finding skills
- A two day workshop was conducted for para –legal workers and advocates on Human Rights and Skills in Fact-finding”.
- One day work shop on “Human Rights Awareness and Skills in fact-finding” was conducted for District Human Rights Centres
- A weeklong training for the students of the government vocational guidance centre was conducted on Human Rights and the International treaty mechanisms.
- Two day training workshop was conducted for the staff members & Activists of APSA a voluntary organisation working with child labourers, street children & slum dwellers.
- Counselling workshop was conducted for the police, and young residents of Sabarban and Vidyagiri, which falls under its Police station limits on the issues of harassment of youths.
- Southern Regional Workshop on Human Rights and Fact-finding Skills was conducted at Bangalore for NGOs in South India
- Two-day State Level Introductory Workshop on Human Rights and International Human Rights Law for Young Lawyers was held in Bangalore.
- 2-day training programme on “Understanding Human Rights” was conducted for the activists of NGO forum & Civil Society groups in Mangalore.
- One day training programme for college teachers of southern states was conducted at academic staff college-Tirupathi Andhra Pradesh on skills in fact-finding and monitoring and exercise, conducting and reporting of fact-finding on human rights violations
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